Before he could take off, Lena leaned over and grabbed the bridle of his horse. The mare stepped back but Lena held on firmly. All her life she played the hand she was dealt. But not this time.
Henry Barrett was going to listen.
“I’m not a wrangler and I’m not accustomed to sitting a horse but I’m capable, you said so yourself. I’m a hard worker and did a fair job patching you up. Seems to me out here where the land needs taming and the law’s neglectful, a woman like myself would be useful.”
She let his horse go having said her piece. What she’d told him struck at the core of the matter. He could depend on her.
“Lena,” he said, using her given name for the first time. “You’re the peskiest woman I ever did come across.”
She knew he spoke honestly and from the heart. Her eyes stung with tears. It was the nicest compliment she’d ever received.
He smiled, by Lord in Heaven, he did. She was smiling too.
“I suppose if I don’t let you come along,” he said, “you’ll just follow me anyway.”
“I’m glad we’re beginning to understand each other.”
His mouth twitched. His blue eyes held her like an embrace. Lena liked what she saw.
